keith



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NAIL ASSORTING AND DELIVERING MECHANISM. No. 542,616. Patenteq q uly 9,1895.

T. K. KEITH & G. H. CLARK.

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T. K. KEITH 81; G. H. CLARK. NAIL ASSORTING AND DELIVERING MEGHANISM.

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T.- K. KEITH & G. H. CLARK. NAIL ASSORTING AND DELIVERING MEGHANISM.

No. 542,616. Patented July 9, 1895.

603 e iC lai UNITED. STATES THOMAS K. KEITH, OF BOSTON, AND GEORGE H.CLARK, OF ALLSTON ATENT @rrica ASSIGNORS TO JAMES W. BROOKS, TRUSTEE, OFPETERSHAM, MAS.-

SAOHUSETTS.

NAIL ASSORTING AND DELIVERING MECHANISM.

iiPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,616, dated July 9,1895. Application filed September 17, 1894. Serial No. 5231215- (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, THOMAS K. KEITH, of Boston, and GEORGE H. CLARK, ofAllston, county of Sufiolk, State of Massachusetts,

have invented an Improvementin Nail Assort ing and Delivering Mechanism,of which the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters and figures on the drawingsrepresenting like parts.

This invention has for its object to improve that class of mechanismemployed to assort tapering nails, such, for instance, as used in.

connection with heels of boots and shoes, and when desired to drivethem.

In accordance with our invention, the nails are placed in bulk in asuitable hopper'containing a pivoted vibrating lifter grooved for thereception longitudinally thereon of a nail to lift the nails singly anddischarge them at the proper time into a chute or passage-way incommunication with an assorting device .adapted to arrest each nailseparately and give to it a sliding movement on a support, the movementbeing in an upward direction, until the upper end of the nail projectsover the end of the support, those nails with their heavier endsuppermost being tipped by gravity and turned over the support andthereby reversed,'the nails having their heavier ends downward afterhaving been acted upon and put through the sliding movement beingpermitted to pass along without being reversed.

The nails having their heads all arranged downward or in one directionare fed by or through suitable distributing-tubes into a.

bulk, and a pivoted vibrating lifter grooved for the receptionlongitudinally thereon of a nail, of a curved rest located between thehopper and the tube to receive the nails and forming one end of thehopper, and also a detent to retain the nail on the lifting device untilit is to be discharged therefrom, substantially as will be described;also, in a hopper to receive nails, a nail-lifting device to lift nailstherefrom, and a nail-distributingtube system, combined with anail-assorting mechanism comprising a shelf, a co-operating fingermovable toward and away from it to arrest each nail separately, andmeans to move the finger along the shelf and slide each nail thereuponuntil its upper endprojects over the end of the shelf, those nailshaving their head ends uppermost being tipped by gravity and turned overthe edge of the shelf and discharged, substantially as will bedescribed.

Other features of our invention will be hereinafter described, andpointed out in the claims.

Figure 1, in front elevation, represents a suffieient portion of amachine embodying our invention to enable the same to be understood-Fig. 2 is a right-hand side elevation, the parts at the left-hand sideof the machine being shown partially by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is anenlarged detail of the preliminary nail-asserting mechanism, its outerside wall, shown in Fig. 2, being removed, the parts being shown inposition to close the throat; Fig. 4, a view of the same parts, but in adifferent position; Fig. 5, a view of the parts shown in Fig. 3 from therear side. Fig. 6, in plan view, shows the receiver or carrier detached;Fig. '7, the nail-box or templet a, in plan View, detached. Fig. 8showsa heel-blank having the nails driven into it from the receiver orcarrier. Fig. 9 shows the hopper detached and enlarged, and Fig. 10 is adetached view of one of the cam-stops to be referred to.

The framework A, of suitable shape to sus-. tain the working parts, hasa power-shaft A,

provided, in this instance of our invention, with an eccentric A which,by a suitable eccentric-strap A engages a stud A, mounted, as hereinshown, in a lever or actuating device A, or movable frame or yoke,pivoted in suitable manner by or through a stud A suitably supported inthe framework.

The stud A receives upon it loosely a sector-lever A herein representedas a bellcrank, one arm of the crank being toothed, as at B, while theother arm has, in this instance of our invention,( see dotted lines,Fig. 2,) a stud 13*, which enters a cam slot B also shown by dottedlines as made in a stationary plate 13 The teeth 13 of the sector engagea pinion C, mounted upon astud 0, herein represented as fixed in thelever A, said pinion being operatively connected with a sleeve 0r hub Omounted loosely on said stud, said sleeve constituting a bed to sustaina receiver or can rier C said receiver or carrier having in practice aseries of holes 0, (see Fig. 6,) which may be arranged in any suitableorder ac-: cording to the work to be doneas, for instance, if nails areto be assorted for a heel,

the holes will be arranged as in the order represented in the drawings.

The holes 0 in the receiver or carrier are of sufficient depth toreceive the heads and as' much of the shanks of the nails as will be;left exposed after the latter have been driven into a heel, the bottomsof the holes abutting against the heads of the nails and driving theminto the heel when the receiver or carrier acts as a driver.

In Fig. 1 the receiver or carrier (1 is shown as secured to the head bysuitable screws, and a block 0 is shown as interposed between the headand the under side of the receiver or carrier, blocks of differentthickness being in practice used in order to properly adjust the carrierto the thickness of the heel to be nailed.

The nails manipulated by the asserting mechanism, to be described, willbe deposited in the holes 0 referred to, and in practice some suitablemeans may be employed to retain the nails in said holes frictionally, wehaving shown, in this present instance of our invention, one form ofholding mechanism, the same consisting of inwardly-pressed springpins0', which intersect the nail-holes c, the pins being retracted or pulledoutwardly at the proper times from the holes 0, as when the receiver orcarrier is receiving nails and when the nails are to leave the saidreceiver or carrier. In this instance of our invention we have shown thepins as moved outwardly by'asuitable sliding cam-c one only being fullyshown, said cam being double-acting or so made as to withdrawthe pinswhen moved in either direction, it being retained in its normal positionby a suitable spring and be-' ing slid in one or the other direction bycontact with stops w and 0 the stop to being shown detached in Fig. 10.The one cam 0 shown acting on a yoke through which three of thespring-pins or holders pass, is adapted to operate said pinssimultaneously.

While We have herein shown only one cam, as 0 to act on a yoke throughwhich some of the spring pins or holders pass, it is obvious that aseries of similar cams may be disposed around the carrier to actuateyokes through which spring pins or holders for the remainder of theholespass, suitable mechanism being provided to operate the cams andcontrol the movement of the pins.

This invention is not, however, limited to the particular form ofholding device shown, and instead we may use any other suitablewell-known mechanism.

The use of the sector and pinion referred to is to put the receiver orcarrier in position to have fed into it a series of nails from a seriesof nai l-distributing tubes, and then to turn the nail-receivercontaining the whole series over and place the nails opposite it justabove a heel-blank 10, preferably previously pricked and placed-onasuitable support, (see Fig. 1,) or it-may be over holes in anail-box ortemplet a, (shown in Fig. 7,) such as commonly used in nailing-machinesof the Glidden type, the ends of the nails protruding from the invertedreceiver or carrier being driven into the heel-blank by the finaldownward movement of the said receiver.

It will be obvious from the foregoing description that the downwardmovement of the lever, with the receiver or carrier filled with nails,portions of which protru'de therefrom, may be made to effect the drivingof said nails directly into any material suitably supported underneaththe said receiver or carrier, whether a heel-blank to be loaded or aheel laid upon a shoe supported on a suitable jack, or whatever may bethe thing to be nailed. During the time that thelever A is beingdepressed to put the projecting ends of the nails into the holes of theheel-blank or other thing the receiver or carrier should move in astraight line, so as not to tip the nails out of vertical position, andto insure this we have provided the sleeve or hub C with a finger c,which enters a suitable guide-slot c in a suitable stand 0 attached tothe framework.

In this present instance of our invention, to avoid making the drawingscomplicated, we have considered it. necessary to show only onenail-distributing tube and a portion of another and the apparatus bywhich it is fed; but it will be understood in practice that the numberof these nail-distributing tubes 00- operating therewith may be limitedonly by the work to be done and the number of nails to be handledsimultaneously.

The framework of the machine has a suitable plate D, upon which we haveerected a hopper, herein represented as composed of like wings D Dhaving a slot between them, in which slot plays a nail-lifter D to bedescribed,said nail-lifter being made as a zurved arm grooved at itsfree end or face, (see Fig. 1,) and working between the side walls ofthe hopper to receive a nail 'n, and, as the lifter rises, takes saidnail out of the hopper, the curve of the arm and the inclination of itsgrooved nail-holding face being such as to IIS enable the nail to dropby gravity therefrom when the lifter has been raised into positionopposite the upper end of the mouth or receiving end E of thenail-distributing-tube system, the other portion of the tube beingmarked E, the nail-assorting device giving to the nail itspreliminarymovement referred to, being located between them.

In this present instance of our invention we have arranged between theend of the tube E and the hopper a curved rest a which acts to preventthe accidental escape of nails not only from the inner end of thehopper, but

also from the free end of the lifting device until the said nail hasreached a position.opposite the upper end of the tube E, We having, inthis instance, shown such rest as provided with a notch a opposite theupper end of'the tube.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 9, it will be seen that the wings D" D arecut off somewhat, so as to leave open spaces between the hopper and therest a these spaces being left to enable a nail which maybe lyingcrosswise upon the lifter to drop off and out of the hopper and into asuitable receptacle, (not shown,) and thus not interfere with theworking of the machine.

- vention, being attached to an arm 5 mounted upon a fulcrum b*, saidarm, in this instance of our invention, carrying one member b of thepreliminary assorting device, the other member being a movable shelf b.The member b is pivotally mounted upon the arm b and a suitable spring,as U, (see Fig. 5,) connected to said arm and to said member b normallyacts to keep said member against a stop If. The member b is movedpositively by a suitable finger attached to a rockshaft Zfflhavingproper bearings in the framework, said rock-shaft having at one end anarm Z2 connected by a link b with an arm 0, fast on a rock-shaft Z9having attached to it an arm b to which in turn is secured thenail-lifter D said arm b having adjustably connected, with it by a studb in a slot 19 a link b which, as shown, is attached to a'crank-pin Z9carried by the main shaft. NVhen the rock-shaft 6 is moved, the arm 19thereon will act on arm 19 to thus open the gate and let a nail fallfrom the throat upon the shelf and at the same time the member b of theassorting device will be moved forward and engage said nail as itstrikes the shelf 1), the latter being somewhat elevated or turned inthe direction of the arrow 2, Fig. 3, by or through the shaft lO onwhich it is fixed, as will be described, during the time that the gateis opening the throat.

Fig. 3 shows the gate closed and the assorting mechanism in its normalcondition. Fig. 4 shows the same parts in the positions they will occupyafter the gate has been moved to open the throat and the nail hasdropped on the shelf and been pushed somewhat up the shelf.

Now, in the further movement of the assorting device the member 19 willtravel upwardly along the shelf, and at the same time the shelf willhave its movement continued in the direction of the arrow, so that .incase a nail has been dropped upon the shelf with its large or heavierend uppermost the said nail will be lifted far enough to place itscenter of gravity above the top of the shelf, when the nail will betipped over the shelf in the direction of the arrow 3, and will, in thisinstance of our invention, travel down the passage-way e emergingtherefrom into the lower portion E of the nail-distributing tube. Incase, however, the head end of the nail be down, the movement of thenail along the shelf will not enable its upper end to preponderate inweight, and as the member is retracted by the spring b a space will beleft between the members If and b to let the nail continue its travelfrom the lower end of said shelf down into the nail-distributing tube E.

To operate the shelf, we have shown'the arm 17 as provided with asuitable pin or projectionf, connected by link) with a studf on an arm fconnected to the shaft 10, carrying said shelf, a suitable stopflimiting the backward movement of the shelf.

, Prior to our'invention we are not aware that a nail on its passagebetween a hopper and a nail receiver or carrier has ever been subjectedto the action of a preliminary or assorting movement by an assortingdevice which will stop the nail and partially lift it, and thereforethis invention is not limited to the exact mechanism shown for actuatingthe same, so long as each nail has imparted to it a movement such asdescribed, as it will be obvious that the same may be modified in.various ways by simply the skill of a mechanic and without the exerciseof invention.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the nails will come intothe portion E of the tube under like conditions, and, reaching the lowerextremity or lower end of the tube E", they may be arrested for a longeror shorter period by a stop 9, herein represented as a lever, entering aslot in a portion of the tube nearer its extremity, said lever having anarm, which may be of any suitable or usual construction, which, when thelever A is lifted to put the receiver or carrier uppermost, as in Figs.1 and 2, will be struck by the pin 0 on the hub (Y to thus move thearresting device to release the nail andpermit it to drop readily fromthe tube into a holein said receiver or carrier.

The nail receiver or carrier moves vertically up to and so as to meetsubstantially the delivery end of the distributing-tube, so that thereis no space between them through which nails may escape.

The arresting device herein shown is normally kept closed by a suitablespring g.

It will be seen, Fig. 2, that the free end of the lifter D is beveled orinclined in such manner with relation to its center of motion, the shaftZ9 that when in its lowest position in the hopper it will besubstantially horizontal; but when lifted, as in Fig. 2, the nail, owingto the inclined position of the end of the lifter, may slide offtherefrom endwise by gravity into the tube E.

Having described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

1. A stationary hopper to receive nails in bulk, and a pivoted Vibratinglifter grooved for the reception longitudinally thereon of a nail,combined with a curved rest located between the hopper and the tube toreceive the nails, and forming one end of the hopper and also a detentto retain the nail on the lifting device until it is to be dischargedtherefrom, substantially as described.

2. A'nail-receiving hopper, and a rest lo cated at or near one endthereof, a portion of the hopper being cut away to leave a space betweenitself and the rest, combined with a lifting device to receivelongitudinally and lift nails from the hopper, the space permitting theescape therethrough, of nails lying crosswise to and which may be liftedby the lifting device, substantially as described.

3. A hopper to receive nails, a nail-lifting device to lift the nailstherefrom, and a naildistributing tube system, combined with anail-asserting mechanism comprisinga shelf, and a cooperating fingermovable toward and away from it, to arrest each nail separately, andmeans to move the finger along the shelf and slide each nail thereuponuntil its upper end projects over the end of the shelf, those nailshaving their head ends uppermost being tipped by gravity and turned overthe end of the shelf and discharged, substantially as described.

4. In a nail-asserting mechanism, a shelf to receive each nail thereon,and a co-operating finger b movable at times into contact with and toslide on said shelf, the end of the finger when in contact with theshelf forming a temporary stop for each nail, separation of said fingerand shelf forming a passage therebetween through which a nail remaining.on the shelf may freely pass, substantially as described.

5. In a nail'assorting mechanism, a throat, and a gate to close itintermittingly, combined with an independent assorting device to an toreverse said receiver or carrier and also move it vertically whenreversed, substantially as described.

8. A nail-assorting mechanism, a system of tubes in which the nails areassorted provided with nail-holding devices, a nail-receiver or carrierand an actuating device upon which it is mounted, combinedwith means toraise and lower said actuating device and with it the receiver orcarrier, whereby the latter when in one position may receive'a series ofnails and when in another position may act as a driver to force thepoints of the nails contained in it directly into a heel or otherarticle, substantially as described.

9. A nail-receiver or carrier provided with a series of nail-receivingholes and adapted when in its uppermost position to receivesimultaneously a series of nails, combined with independent holdingdevices for the nails, and means connected to and to positively withdrawthe holding devices from engagement with the nails whereby the lattermay be discharged in unison from the receiver when in its reverseposition, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS -K. KEITH.

GEORGE I-I. CLARK.

\Vitnesses:

GEO. W. GREGORY, M, J. SHERIDAN.

